The United States Air Force (USAF): Basic Documents on Roles and Missions (Air Staff Historical Study) - McNamara, Curtis LeMay, James Forrestal, Space Command, Key West Agreement

The Office of Air Force History has collected in this volume the most significant documents which have determined the roles and missions of the Air Force, from its birth in 1947 to the present. The documents themselves only tell part of the story, of course. Dr. Wolf provides an introductory essay to each document so that readers can comprehend the context in which the decisions over roles and missions took place. The result is a convenient and useful reference tool for anyone working with, or studying, the organizational and doctrinal basis of the United States Air Force.

One of the major lessons of World War II was the need for the military services, both in the United States and elsewhere, to work together in mutually supporting ways to defeat an enemy. Changing technology and the worldwide character of the war altered the traditional boundaries between land and sea warfare, and the new elements of air power and atomic weapons even further called into question the traditional roles and missions of the armed services.

In 1947, the U.S. Air Force became independent of the Army and a National Military Establishment (which became the Department of Defense in 1949) was formed to coordinate and, after 1949, to control the services. Yet, disagreements over roles and missions continued, often exacerbated by the fiscal limitations of the post-war era. But not all roles and missions disagreements were caused by financial struggles.

1. Army Adjutant General Letter Reorganizing the Army Air Forces, 21 March 1946 * 2. War Department Circular 138, 14 May 1946 * 3. Outline Command Plan, 14 December 1946 * 4. National Security Act, 26 July 1947 * 5. Executive Order 9877, 26 July 1947 * 6. Army-Air Force Implementation Agreements, 15 September 1947 * 7. Key West Agreement, 21 April 1948 * 8. Executive Order 9950, 21 April 1948 * 9. Secretary of Defense Forrestal's Memorandum Creating the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), 3 May 1948 * 10. Newport Agreement, 21 August 1948 * 11. National Security Act Amendments of 1949, 10 August 1949 * 12. Army and Air Force Authorization Act of 1949, 10 July 1950 * 13. Secretary of Defense Johnson's Guided Missile Memorandum, 21 March 1950 * 14. Vandenberg-Collins Agreement, 1 August 1950 * 15. Air Force Organization Act, 19 September 1951 * 16. Pace-Finletter Agreement, 2 October 1951 * 17. Pace-Finletter Agreement, 4 November 1952 * 18. Reorganization Plan Number 6 of 1953, 30 April 1953 * 19. Department of Defense Directive 5100.1, 16 March 1954 * 20. Establishment of Continental Air Defense Command, 1 September 1954 * 21. Secretary of Defense Wilson's Memorandum, 26 November 1956 * 22. Secretary of Defense Wilson's Directive (5160.2) on Single Manager Assignment for Airlift Service, 7 December 1956 * 23. Secretary of Defense Wilson's Directive (5160.22) , 18 March 1957 * 24. Department Of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958, 6 August 1958 * 25. Department Of Defense Directive 5100.1, 31 December 1958 * 26. Assignment of Operational Control of Space Detection and Tracking System to North American Air Defense Command, 7 November 1960 * 27. Secretary of Defense McNamara's Directive Assigning Space System's Development to the Air Force, 6 March 1961 * 28. LeMay-Decker Agreement, 12 July 1962 * 29. Redesignation of Military Air Transport Service to Military Airlift Command, 11 October 1965. * 30. Secretary of Defense McNamara's Memorandum for Navy withdrawal from Military Airlift Command, 5 April 1966 * 31. McConnell-Johnson Agreement, 6 April 1966 * 32. Deputy Secretary of Defense Directive on Space System Development, 8 September 1970 * 33. Consolidation of Airlift Forces, 1974